Monday Motivation

Where Are The Instructions?

Have you ever tried to play a game without reading the rules or instructions before you start? What about that Christmas present for your child that you are putting together at midnight on Christmas Eve? It has 1,000 pieces and you don’t have the instructions. Can you imagine trying to get it put together correctly? Without the instructions or rules we end up with a mess on our hands.

It’s the same way in life. God has given us His guidebook, an instruction manual to navigate all that life will bring us. I don’t know about you, but I need instructions for things like parenting, marriage, friendship, work, all the things!

Let’s Play a Game

If you have children, here is a great lesson to teach your children the importance of following God’s instructions in the Bible.

1. Divide your group into 2 teams.
2. Give each team a bowl that has been pre-filled with instant vanilla pudding mixture. Do not tell the teams what is in their bowls.
3. Now send 1 team into another room with the INSTRUCTIONS and the CORRECT ingredients. They will make the pudding according to the instructions.
4. Keep the other team in the room with their bowl and give them an assortment of ingredients. Give them some correct ingredients and some incorrect ingredients.( milk, orange juice, sugar, salt, chocolate syrup) Give them utensils to measure out ingredients. This team does not have instructions. They do not know what they are making, what the correct ingredients should be, or how much to use. Let them try to make something with the ingredients they have been given.
5. When the team that was given the instructions has their pudding ready, have them come out and serve the pudding to everyone.

The team without the instructions will realize what they have been making is wrong. This will help them understand that not using instructions can lead to mistakes, wrong choices(wrong ingredients), and ultimately a mess.

Application

This game is a fun way to illustrate a point. It may seem silly to think that we would try to make pudding or really anything without the recipe or instructions. But we do it everyday. I do it everyday. I think that I can handle certain situations in life and will just do it in my own strength. Oftentimes, I use the wrong ingredients to try to fix things or do things in my own way. That goes about as well as those pudding mixtures did. Or I get too busy to stop and read God’s instructions for my life. Maybe you think your problem is too small for God to care about or it’s too big for Him to handle.

God’s word has the power to shed light on our steps. When we don’t know where to step next, he shines the light on the path. When we need answers to our questions about those things like parenting and marriage, His instructions are where we need to go first! When we are afraid or we stumble, he is there to guide us, direct us, strengthen us.

Your word is a lamp for my feet,

    a light on my path.

Psalm 119:105

Reading God’s word has been something that I have had to discipline myself to do. It has not always come easy. But it has become my anchor in life’s greatest storms and the foundation on which I build my life, my home, and my family.

What can you do this week to work on reading God’s instruction book for your life? Here’s some simple ideas to start:

1. Set your alarm 15 minutes earlier and get up to have time to read your Bible.
2. Download an app on your phone that you can use for Bible study. Some of my favorites are She Reads Truth, YouVersion, Dwell
3. Pick a verse and memorize it this week.
4. Listen to the Bible while you are driving, exercising, doing chores,etc.
5. Pray and ask God to give you a love for His word. This is a prayer that I promise He will answer!
6. Download this week’s FREE phone wallpaper and memorize the verse! It will be a great start in focusing on God’s instruction book! *You can also go back to some of our previous Monday Motivations and download our phone wallpapers for more great verses to memorize!